Ensemble physically driven choreographic theatre with a strong fusion of vocal and physical expression, almost operatic in feel...

This work was bursting out of the tight confines of the Wildman Room at Assembly. It bristled with energy and absolutely rippled from the moment the ensemble catapulted from behind the simple red curtain to the final backwards retreat stage left at the end. The fusion of vocally strong and physically stylised engaging performance from the maturely confident ensemble was operatic in style and flowed in a liquid-like seamlessness, evoking the authentic sense of the raw, tatty and dangerous world of New York in 1848; this being an adaptation of a Victorian melodrama by Benjamin A. Baker. The way in which the ensemble were able to hold the material so clearly focused between them allowed the eye to shift and flit totally held in the varying degrees of tension created. Text and physicality really danced together and the vocal variations were striking. The design was rich and there was a quirky almost impudent used of a pantomimic 2D props.